


Scorpion and Frog

by TheFlirtMeister



Category: Hemlock Grove
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Animal Death, Gen, High School, Letha Lives, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-23
Updated: 2018-03-23
Packaged: 2019-04-07 01:32:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14070000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFlirtMeister/pseuds/TheFlirtMeister
Summary: “Fucking barbaric.” Roman mutters in Biology, Peter by his side as lab partner.Letha is sitting in the row across from them, leaning her chin on her hand as she listens to the teacher. She looks awful, practically a walking corpse, but her father, and the schoolboard insisted that she carry on.“You know what else is barbaric?” Peter says, “Dissecting fucking frogs.”





	Scorpion and Frog

**Author's Note:**

> anyway letha is alive and everything is okay.

Apparently saving the town of Hemlock Grove doesn’t mean you get to quit school all together. Even Letha, who only last week buried her baby, is forced to continue with her classes, making her way around the school with a pale face and bloodshot eyes.

“Fucking barbaric.” Roman mutters in Biology, Peter by his side as lab partner.

Letha is sitting in the row across from them, leaning her chin on her hand as she listens to the teacher. She looks awful, practically a walking corpse, but her father, and the schoolboard insisted that she carry on.

“You know what else is barbaric?” Peter says, “Dissecting fucking frogs.”

Roman looks down at the frog they have on their desk, its little legs sticking up in the air. He prods it with the end of his pencil, but it doesn’t move. It lays there, the colour of mould, fat and dead.

“Why, are you upset you can’t eat it?” Roman asks.

They have taken to sitting with each other in the school canteen, Roman watching Peter eat the food that other people don’t want. Roman takes delight in throwing peas in Peter’s direction, and Peter catching them in mid air with his mouth.

“Shut up.” Peter says, “Frogs are poisonous to dogs.”

“That makes me think you’ve tried.” Roman says, looking over at Letha who is smiling weakly at her lab partner.

“Get me a scalpel.” Peter says instead, waving his hand. “I’m sure you’ve got a knife on you somewhere.”

“You have tried, haven’t you?” Roman turns to Peter, delighted. “Oh my god. Dumb dog.”

“Roman, give me a _fucking_ scalpel.” Peter says, far too loudly. People turn to look at them, and Peter flips them off.

“ _Angry_ dog.” Roman chides, but hands him the scalpel all the same. “Shall I spray you with some water?”

“I’ll bite your fucking hand off.” Peter threatens.

Roman reaches out, taking hold of Peter’s jaw. He tilts Peter’s face up to look at him, and their eyes bore into each other for too long. Roman wets his bottom lip, and Peter jerks his head sharply to the side so Roman is forced to let go.

Peter looks down at the frog, twiddling the scalpel between his fingers. Roman thinks it looks like a magic trick, that the scalpel will disappear up Peter’s sleeve and be replaced with a rose stem, or a tarot card.

“Is it a boy frog or a girl frog?” Peter asks.

“Why, are you planning to fuck it?” Roman asks.

Peter rolls his eyes, and stabs their worksheet with the scalpel. “It’s a fucking question on the sheet Roman.”

“Oh I’m sorry.” Roman says sarcastically. “Look at its genitals, I don’t know.”

“Apparently the thumb should be bulbous and fat if it’s a girl.” Peter says, prodding the frog.

“I can show you something bulbous and fat.” Roman says, just as there’s a gasp from Letha.

Both Roman and Peter lurch towards her, Letha standing as far away from her frog as possible, one hand over her mouth. Her other hand is protectively over her stomach, even though there’s nothing there anymore. According to the doctor’s, there will be never anything there again.

“What’s wrong Ms Godfrey?” The teacher asks from the front desk, barely looking up. He has papers to mark, and students to ignore.

“Our frog is pregnant.” Letha says, not looking at anyone. “She has eggs. Inside of her.”

“Well remove them Ms Godfrey, and continue with the dissection.”

“I can’t remove them!” Letha says, “I’m not scraping her babies out of her!”

“Your frog is already dead Ms Godfrey, and as unlikely to come back to life as jellyfish suddenly falling from the sky.”

Peter clears his throat. “Actually jellyfish fell from the sky in Australia in 1935.”

The teacher turns to him. “Mr Rumancek, did I ask you to comment?”

“No Sir.”

“Then don’t.”

“She’s clearly in distress!” Peter says, raising his voice.

“And if she wants to pass Biology, she will have to dissect the frog, whether she likes it or not!” The teacher says, matching Peter’s tone. “I don’t care what may have happened-“

“ _Shut up_.” Roman interjects, his voice ringing out across the classroom. “Everyone _stop_.”

The teacher’s mouth snaps shut at once, apparently frozen in time. The other students are also still, standing in poses like a freeze frame. Letha, Roman, and Peter are the only ones who aren’t affected, but they are motionless all the same.

“Letha…” Peter says slowly, as if talking to a wild animal. Letha is crying, in a hot angry way.

“It’s all so stupid!” She says, and stomps her foot. “The baby is _dead_. End of story.”

“You’re allowed to-“ Roman starts, and Letha turns to him.

“What, Roman? What am I allowed to do? I can’t even grieve! I can’t even be upset! Nobody will let me!” She screws up his fists, and for a moment, Roman thinks she will hit herself, punch herself in the stomach.

“I hate this fucking teacher.” Peter says. His voice is calm, Roman likes him when he’s like this. “He’s a dick.”

“A cunt.” Roman agrees. “Not even good enough to be a cunt. Doesn’t have the depth or the warmth.”

“You two are terrible.” Letha tells them, but her voice is quiet. “You should only use your powers when it’s necessary Roman.”

“This was necessary,” Roman tells her, leaning over to give her a little shake. “You’re important.”

She gives a little embarrassed hiccup, and then wipes her eyes. Roman wishes that she didn’t have to go through this, the public humiliation, the grief and shame on display for everyone to see. He wishes everything could go back to normal.

“We could skip class?” Peter offers. “Go to that ice cream place you like?”

“I’ll pay.” Roman says, even though he would have paid anyway.

Letha gets a wistful look in her eye, that Roman wants to bottle up. They used to go the ice cream parlour when they were kids, trying out combinations of flavours until their stomachs hurt. Those are Roman’s childhood memories, of being physically sick outside Godfrey manor, as Letha patted his back.

“I need to pass Biology.” Letha says with a shake of her head, “If I want to get out of here.”

University is on the cards for Letha. Owning the Godfrey company is on the cards for Roman. Peter, on the other hand, has had no future carefully mapped out for him since birth. Roman can see Peter in his future though, if he peers deep into his crystal balls.

“Make everyone come to life again.” Letha tells Roman, “I can handle it.”

“Are you sure?” Peter asks, and she nods, smiling at him softly.

“Positive.” She says, and reaches out for both their hands, squeezing tight. “Thank you.”

“Anything for you.” Roman says, and then looks back at the teacher. “ _Start up again_.”

The classroom is once again filled with noise, and the teacher blinks, shaking his head as if trying to clear buzzing in his ears.

“Ms Godfrey-“ He starts, and then catches sight of the three of them holding hands. “What is going on?”

“Nothing.” Letha says, letting go of Roman and Peter. “I’ll get back to my work now.”

The teacher looks from Letha, to Roman, to Peter, and then down at the papers he’s been reading through. “Very well then.”

Then everyone in the classroom starts to scream, jumping back from their desks and clinging to one another for dear life. The room is a chaos of yelling, and shouting, and frog ribbits. 

“What-“ Peter starts, and then looks at their frog, which is currently hopping about on the dissection tray, very much alive. “Roman!”

“Whoops.” Roman says, watching the now alive, if slightly flayed, frogs jump about the room. “My mistake. Full credit. I take blame.”

Letha gives a giggle of laughter, swooping in to save her pregnant frog which was in danger of falling off the desk. “I think I have a new pet.” She says, stroking her frog’s head with her finger.

“Your father will be thrilled.” Roman says sarcastically.

“Oh, I don’t think he’s in the position to complain about what I do.” Letha says, and then gives her frog a little kiss. “Oh.”

“Oh what?” Peter asks, picking up their own frog with only mild revulsion

“It didn’t turn into a handsome princess.” Letha pouts, and Peter blinks.

“That reminds me.” He says, the frog tries to make a bid for freedom. “Destiny asked for your number.”

“Did she now?” Letha asks, curiosity in her voice. “How very interesting.”

“Power couple of the decade.” Roman drawls, and then darts forward to save Peter from whatever frog based terror he’s got himself caught up in.

It seems, he thinks, that he and Peter are destined for trouble.

**Author's Note:**

> comment if u liked this!! i rly enjoyed writing it but im not sure if anyone else will like it :P


End file.
